Now 98 — although as smooth on his legs as someone much younger — the World War II veteran and former longtime local orthodontist has cut back on his full-scale assault of the links.

But, the ardor of the game — a game he mastered and on which he left an indelible mark — remains.

Just a little more than 20 years ago, Hardin is credited with making golf history.

While playing on a course in Craig, Colo., he ripped a double eagle — in sight, fittingly, of a nest of a baby eagles.

The Senior Golf Digest, which is now defunct, said at the time that at age 77, the Bartlesville senior was the oldest man to have achieved a double eagle, Hardin said.

But, he might be even more proud of another feat a few years later — shooting a round of 73 at Hillcrest Country Club. He was 81 years old at the time.

Hardin — who hails from McAlester — found his way in 1949 to Bartlesville, just five years after he took part in the Normandy invasion, known as D-Day.

A trained pilot who — along with hundreds of others — wasn’t needed for the initial assault, Hardin’s boots hit the ground on the Omaha Beach, three weeks after the invasion, which eventually liberated France and continued into Germany.

Although originally too short for pilot training, the determined Hardin did find a way to make that happen and flew missions during the war.

Following the war, Hardin took advantage of the G.I. Bill to attend dental school.

He then relocated to Bartlesville where, at the age of 31, he began his intimate association with golf.

“I really worked at it,” he recalled. “After seven or eight years, I got down to a single-digit handicap. I played every chance I could get.”

Hardin — who will turn 100 on April 7, 2019 — enjoyed many outings at the no longer existent Sunset Golf Course, which had sand greens.

Hardin finally retired in 1986 as an orthodontist — although he said if he had known how healthy he would stay, he might have gone a little longer.

At age 88, he stepped back from golf.

But, he still has a social membership at Hillcrest and finds his way to the course to putt and chip and hit a few balls.

“He was a very competitive little golfer,” recalled local linkster Ken Moore, who used to play against Moore at Hillcrest. “He had a single handicap until his 80’s.”

In fact, part of the fairway on No. 11 was named for Hardin, he added.